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The Playlist

I was refreshed to hear that when the Twilight series was being written, that Miss Meyer's used a playlist to inspire her. Being someone who has immersed herself in music culture (I had published a magazine on it for five years) I have always used music as part of my process. Every moment of my own life has a song that was popular at the time or had special significance to me then and there associated with it. So does every significant moment in my novels. It keeps me on track, keeps the Muse fed, and keeps it real.

So here is the soundtrack to PIRATES of Lobster Cove. The commentary won't mean much to you until you have read the novel, but once you have, I hope this gives you a glimpse at the wire frame beneath the story.

Now its time to turn the dial to Pirate Radio, on the air! Check it out on Spotify!

PIRATES of Lobster Cove Playlist

TRACK 1 – Up the Beach by Jane's Addiction

This is 1 of 2 songs from their debut album Nothing's Shocking on the playlist. Its the title sequence for the novel, setting the tone with lots of reverb and wailing voices and the repeated word so important in the novel, "Home." The back and forth of the voices from a nursery rhyme utterance to howls sets the tone perfectly. Welcome to Lobstah Cove!

TRACK 2 – Summer by Buffalo Tom

After the "theme" we open with Boston's own Buffalo Tom with their anthem to angst under the sun. It begins, "Sight unseen, fantasies, summer song sung all along, dragged across the seven seas, to the beach, come follow me..." So the first tale of Lobster Cove begins. "wipe it off my hands, write it in the sand" Tyler will soon learn what that means. It has all the elements of the book referenced in the lyrics. The chorus, "Summer's gone, and summers all you wasted everyday" I think in that is the seed of the series, the doldrums of summer when you are a kid, oblivious to the adventures waiting around every corner.

TRACK 3 – Ghost Under Rocks by Ra Ra Riot

Even the cymbal starting it off sounds like a wave crashing on the shore setting up the feeling that the paranormal is everywhere and our conscious life is just a comforter draped over it; a very foreboding song indeed."You are breathing like ghosts under rocks, ghosts of your fathers, lost and forgotten. " If that's not the spooky underbelly of Lobster Cove, I don't know what is.

TRACK 4 - Electric Feel by MGMT

This song emulates the innocent attraction Ty and Sandy have for each other, especially after they have been manifested."All along the eastern shore, put your circuits in the sea, this is what the world is for, making electricity, you can feel it in your mind, you can do it all the time." If you've read it, you’d get it! Love, like this novel, will at times shock you like an electric eel!

TRACK 5 - Seaweed Song by Passion Pit

This is a little foreshadowing of Ty’s guardian under the waves. A cautionary tale to Ty as his obsession moves slowly from a rumored pirate to the call of the sea."Someday you'll see, angels floating on top of the sea,on bended knee, don't go where they go, don't sing the songs they sing"." The song also references a lost of innocence which is spot on with this book.

TRACK 6 – Panic in Detriot by David Bowie

This is the soundtrack to the chapter Mooncussers. From the start I told myself that the chapter had to read like this song sounded. Crazy concept, but it was my compass to get the feel right. There is wailing voices echoing in the background, the desperate teen lyric and the crunchy guitars marching forward. The only lyrics that work in a linear fashion are in the bridge. "I saw my teacher crouching in his overalls, I dodged the passing cars that sped the traffic lights" then the guitars twang out of control... we are now in control of your vertical... welcome to the outer limits... I mean Lobster Cove, under a mooncusser siege.

TRACK 7 - Don't Fear the Reaper – The Ceasars

The classic was originally done by The Blue Oyster Cult. Besides the nautical reference in the band's name, this is a perfect song for Sandy and Ty after she becomes manifested and can see the paranormal all around her.(now the two are one) It is also sings of desire and the attraction of the dark side all around us. So atmospheric, especially the third verse that is a tale of suspense all in its own. The song was blamed for teen suicide's when I was young. It screams teen angst on the edge. The version on my playlist is by The Ceasars which was on the Six Feet Under soundtrack. They play it pretty straight forward but I felt the version was fresher for the younguns!

TRACK 8 - Help I'm Alive by Metric

This is Sandy's song when she is caught in the belly of the beast, inside the death ship.It has her weak side and her kick-arse side.“Help I'm alive, my heart beats like a hammer...but I'm still alive, my regrets are few.”I know the song is about selling out in the music industry but in the context of Pirates the lyrics are perfect."I tremble, they're gonna eat me alive..." Don't worry, Sandy doesn't stumble.

TRACK 9 – Ocean Size by Jane’s Addiction

This is the theme for the Leviathon chapter."I've seen the ocean break on the shore, and come together with no harm done"The reverb and power chords are as large as the threat of the sea.Song also quotes what I see as Bess' motto; "No talk, all action." Rock on Nboquishakwana (with the silent 'n' of course)

TRACK 10 - Girl In The Sea by No More Kings

It has tons of nautical references and speaks of an element in the book that continues big time in the second book The Big Kahuna of Lobster Cove. This has everything to do with Ty's rescue on the death ship. The hypnotic draw of the sea gets its hooks in Ty big time and Pearl becomes his newest obsession!Great song by a great band and a perfect fit here.

TRACK 11 – 68 Guns by The Alarm

The soundtrack to the final conflict has to be from the first album of The Alarm. Heck, it even has cannon fire in it! It is as gallant and over the top as the tail end of the book."and now they're trying to take my life away, forever young I can not stay"How spot on for Gatto and his crew; time to grow up a little. “YO HO, 68 guns will never die!”

TRACK 12 – Father To Son by Queen

Ty and the Cyrkle battle for our past, present and future to this Queen anthem. I see this as the overture to the book as well. If I needed to get back on track as to the epic scope of this little book, I’d throw this on. The lyrics read perfectly for Ty's present pathos. "I fought for you, right by your side, long before you were born"... and the voices so clear, time and time, they keep calling you, calling you on" and of course the cryptic but all so appropriate to Pirates line, " Take this letter that I give you, take it sonny hold it high, you won't understand a word that’s in it, but you'll write all again before you die." And the music, what a victorious bombast for Ty to fulfill his destiny to. You can almost hear waves crashing against the hull and see the expanse of the ocean. Even after the battle is won, Ty can still feels the ocean calling (if not, there wouldn't be a second book now would there)

TRACK 13 – Float On by Modest Mouse

The Epilogue, roll credits. The Cyrkle heads back to a Cove changed forever for as long as they can remember it. (spoiler alert- yes, no one dies in the first book) What better title to tie it all up in a nautical bundle (with the help of Ashley's Book of Knots no less). It has such a triumphant stride to it, full of majesty and full optimism. Love the line "even if things get a bit too heavy, we'll all float on all right." A perfect period with a capital P to the first volume of the series.

And yes, TIKIS of Lobster Cove has its own playlist that I will add to as the chapters hit the page. I find that some songs don’t make the cut after a while and others rise to take their place. It’s all a wonderful part of the process for me

About the Author

The Literary Bookie is a weekly guide to the best bets in the world of books. Part recommend/part review, these posts are meant to better your odds when you buy your next read. Enjoy your weekly hot sheet and share with others. The Literary Bookie was the former publisher/ reviewer for the pop culture and art culture publication, Cheeseball Magazine and novelist.
Tales by Toon is the meanderings of S.E. Toon, author, bookselling consultant and Creative Writing instructor.